Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Slope Engineering Design and Construction Practice in Malaysia
Slope Engineering Design and Construction Practice in Malaysia
MALAYSIA
1
Managing Director, G&P Geotechnics Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2
Associate, G&P Geotechnics Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
website: www.gnpgeo.com.my
Abstract: Slope engineering has been the main focus for housing and infrastructure developments on hilly terrain in
Malaysia in recent years, as a result of a shortage of flat or undulating land. There have been a number of landslides in
recent years since the notorious landslide incident occurred in 1993 which resulted in the collapse of Block 1 of the
Highland Towers and claimed 48 lives. Improvements in slope engineering and slope management have been noticeable.
One of them was the establishment of the Slope Engineering Branch under the Public Works Department (PWD) in 2004,
after the rock fall failure at Bukit Lanjan near Kuala Lumpur in 2003 which resulted in a 6 months highway closure. The
Slope Engineering Branch has also commissioned and developed a “National Slope Master Plan Study” which aims at
improving current practices of slope engineering and slope management. This paper presents the current engineering
practice in slope design and construction as well as highlighting the initiatives for developments in Malaysia for slope
engineering and slope management.
Keywords : Slope Management; Slope Engineering; Policy and Legislation; Structure professional undergraduate
education; Construction Control
80
71
68
70
60
No. of Landslide Incidents
50
39
40 36
30
22 23
18
20 16 15 16 17 15
14
11 10 9
7 8 7
10 5 5 6
3 2 3 3 4 3
1 1 1 2 1 1 1
0
1961
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Year
Figure 7: Number of landslide events in Malaysia, 1961 – 2008 (after PWD (2008) with additional
landslide statistics for the year 2008 by the Authors)
However, concerns and awareness on the hazards of hillsite Table 1 gives some significant historical landslide events
developments only begun after the collapse of Block 1 of the and Figure 7shows the total number of reported landslides
Highland Towers on 11th December 1993 that killed 48 between 1961 and 2008 in Malaysia. In December 2008,
people (Figure 6). Since than, numerous landslide incidents another large scale landslide had occurred in Bukit
have occurred both at the surrounding areas of Highland Antarabangsa, where five residents were killed, 14
Towers, and in other parts of the country. bungalows were destroyed and 2000 residents were
evacuated from their homes (Figure 8).
Table 1 - Historical Landslides in Malaysia [after CDM (1999) with additional landslide statistics
for the year 2008 by the Authors]
Figure 8: Landslide at Bukit Antarabangsa 2008 (after Tan & Chow (2009)
Furthermore, based on 49 cases investigated by Gue & Tan unclear and do not cover safety enhancement, slope stability
(2006), 60% of failed man-made slopes were due to and protection, environment friendliness and sustainability
inadequacy in design alone. This inadequacy in design is of engineering projects. Furthermore, the guideline proposed
generally the result of a lack of understanding and by JMG may seem be comprehensive, but it is too
appreciation of the subsoil conditions and geotechnical complicated for implementation by the approving authority
issues. In addition, failure due to construction errors alone as it is subjected to various interpretations. Therefore, a
either on workmanship, materials and/or lack of site simplified version is urgently needed.
supervision contributed to 8% of the total cases of
landslides. About 20% of the landslides investigated were In 1999, under its own initiative, IEM has formulated
caused by a combination of design and construction errors. policies and procedures for mitigating the risk of landslides
The results clearly reveal that the majority of these failures for hillsite developments. IEM (2000) produced a position
were avoidable if extra care was taken and input from paper titled, “The policies and procedures for mitigating the
engineers with relevant experience in geotechnical risk of landslide on hill-site development” with the aim of
engineering was sought from the planning to the providing uniform, consistent, and effective policies and
construction stages. procedures for consideration and implementation by the
Government of Malaysia. In the published position paper by
The increase in media attention has also led to the formation IEM, the slopes for hillsite developments are proposed to be
of guidelines and policies by governmental departments and classified into three classes. Depending on the classification
relevant associations to ensure stringent approval procedures of risk for the slope, necessary approval requirements have
for hillsite developments. More importantly, the occurrence been laid down.
of the rock fall at Bukit Lanjan in 2003, which led to a six-
month highway closure, triggered the formation of the Slope The proposed classification of IEM is based on the geometry
Engineering Branch under PWD in 2nd February 2004. Other of the slopes such as height and angle for simplicity of
initiatives include the introduction of Accredited Checkers implementation by non-technical personnel in our local
by the Board of Engineers, Malaysia (BEM) for authorities. Although in actual conditions there are many
geotechnical and structural designs of hillsite developments other factors affecting the stability of the slopes like
geological features, engineering properties of the soil/rock,
with the aim of mitigating the risk of landslides and
groundwater regime, etc. In order to make the
improving slope management and engineering.
implementation of the classification easier, simple geometry
has been selected as the basis for risk classification.
4 POLICIES & LEGISLATION
The first authority to document hillsite development in
Malaysia was the Urban and Rural Planning Department in However, after the major landslide incident at Bukit
1997. The guideline addressed the issues of planning and Antarabangsa on December 2008 (as mentioned section 3.0),
development in highlands on slopes, natural waterways, and the Selangor government, during their Executive Council
water catchment areas (Abdullah et al., 2007). In June 2002, Committee meeting on 2nd April 2008, decided to ban all
the Minerals and GeoScience Department Malaysia (JMG) development on Class III and IV slopes. As such, Selangor
produced guidelines on hillsite development. The guidelines became the first and only state in the country where no
considered the angle of natural slopes, type of terrain, type housing development is allowed on slopes with gradient
of activities, previous slip history, severity of erosion, etc. steeper than 25°. Due to such newly implemented
The areas were then classified into four categories termed restrictions, the stakeholders involved (inclusive of the
Classes I, II, III and IV. Class I is the least severe in terms of implementation Authorities, submitting engineers, land
terrain grading where slope angles are less than 15°. Class II owners, etc) were confused and dejected by the ‘blanket’
is reserved for slopes between 15° and 25° and Class III is restriction when dealing with individual project submission.
for slopes between 25° and 35°. Slopes with angles greater
than 35° are classified as Class IV which poses the highest Therefore, these numerous guidelines and regulations should
risk. Since the formulation of such a terrain classification by be harmonized into unified guidelines for good practices in
JMG, no development has been allowed in areas with Class the planning, design, construction, site supervision,
IV slopes. maintenance and monitoring of slope engineering projects.
In fact, IEM has reviewed their earlier classification of slope
Apart from this, there are also numerous other guidelines terrain based on three classes to the common four classes
and regulations related to slope management from the with further safety enhancement for hill site developments in
following governmental and private agencies: - Malaysia.
a) Department of Environment (DOE)
b) Minerals and GeoScience Department (JMG) 5 SLOPE ENGINEERING PRACTICES ON HILL SITE
c) Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (MPAJ) (Local DEVELOPMENTS
Authority) As hill site development has gained in popularity, good
d) Ministry of Housing and Local Governments (MHLG) practice for slope engineering and slope management is vital
e) Urban and Rural Planning Department (JPBD) for the formation of safe slopes both during construction and
f) The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) throughout the service life of the structure. Therefore, sound
g) Kumpulan Ikram Sdn Bhd (IKRAM) engineering practice is required on all stages of
However, some of these guidelines and regulations are implementation from planning, analysis, design,
construction to maintenance. Undisturbed soil samples are sometimes collected at shallow
depth using block sampling which is very useful for
Based on ACT 133, the Street, Drainage and Building Act collecting quality undisturbed soil samples during the
1974 and the Uniform Building By-Laws 1984 (UBBL), it is excavation of slopes. These undisturbed residual soil
the responsibility of the submitting professional engineer to samples are used for triaxial tests as well as the soil
classification tests.
supervise the construction work. The submitting
professional engineer for the work should certify various For cut slopes, the effective stress condition (drained or long
stages of completion including setting out, completion of term condition) is more critical than the total stress
foundations and certificate of fitness for occupation. In all (undrained or short term) condition. Therefore, the effective
these certifications, the submitting professional engineer has stress strength parameters c’ and φ’, determined from the
to certify that the work has been carried out according to the representative samples of a soil layer, are used in the
design, requirements of the by-laws; construction drawings analysis. Despite its limitations, Isotropic Consolidated
as well as supervision and take full responsibility of the Undrained Triaxial Tests with pore pressure measurement
(CIU) are commonly carried out on the 72mm diameter soil
work (Gue, 2001). Furthermore, the responsibility of the
samples from a Mazier sampler without trimming and side
submitting professional engineer on the supervision of work drains. The cost for a set of 72mm diameter CIU test is about
also includes supervision for subsurface investigation. The RM1000 per set of three specimens. It is important that soil
level of supervision is left to the submitting person to samples are tested at stresses comparable to those in the field,
decide. It is generally expected that the submitting person and should be saturated. Prolonged and high intensity
will delegate significant parts of the supervision to his team rainfall, especially during the two monsoon periods every
that he or she has a direct control over with a system to year, infiltrates into the soil as expected and it is likely that
ensure construction compliance to the drawings and the saturation condition is approached at shallow depth in
the field during the service life of a slope.
specifications.
However, supervision of Subsurface Investigation (SI) and The shear strength of soil is conveniently represented
construction works by consultant’s representatives is often graphically on a Mohr diagram. For simplicity of analysis, it
lacking in compliance despite the fact that these are is conventional to use a c’-φ’ soil strength model for
necessary under the act. Hence, the Authors have saturated soil as expressed in the following equation:
recommended strengthening measures in this aspect.
τf = c’ + σnf’ tanφ’ (for Saturated Soils) …. Eq. 1
where τf = shear strength of soil
5.1 Subsurface Investigation σnf’ = effective normal stress at failure
The two most important parameters needed to analyse and φ’ = effective angle of friction (degree)
design cut slopes in residual soils are the effective stress c’ = apparent cohesion (kPa)
strength parameters (c’ & φ’) and the groundwater level.
This key information is generally obtained from triaxial tests
on Mazier samples. Meanwhile, boreholes on slopes in
potentially high risk areas are installed with standpipes to Meanwhile, unsaturated shear strength of soil has not been
obtain the groundwater profile allowing groundwater adopted for design as it has included soil suction which will
monitoring in boreholes during and after S.I. field works, give higher shear strength compared to saturated soils. In
and even over a period of at least one monsoon. However, fact, most steep cut slopes with low or inadequate factors of
monitoring over one monsoon is a challenge. In fact, safety did not fail because of the presence of soil suction, but
frequent reminders are required for all practicing engineers if the suction is lost due to prolonged and high intensity
to insist on the importance of such groundwater monitoring rainfall, these slopes will likely fail. The most obvious
especially for areas with major cut and fill slopes. example is that a slope can stand at a very steep angle (even
near vertical) immediately after excavation but with time or
For local practices, effective stress strength parameters (c’ & after rain, the slope will collapse. In view of the great
φ’) for residual soils are often obtained from undisturbed soil uncertainty of relying on the stability of slopes with soil
samples collected from boreholes using a Mazier Sampler suction, it should be ignored.
(Retractable triple-tube Core-barrel) with a sample diameter For the interpretation of shear strength of soil, the simpler
of 72mm. Foam drilling is sometimes used to improve the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) stress path is
recovery of Mazier sampling. In situations where Mazier preferred and commonly used by local practitioners. The
sampling recovery is bad/insufficient and foam drilling is vertical and horizontal axes are as follows:
not feasible, another method of obtaining “undisturbed” soil
samples from stiff residual soils is the use of the Thick Wall
sample (sample diameter of 70mm) which is hammered into
the hard soil. Although the sampling process using thick
walls will cause some disturbance, the effect is not
significant for stiff residual soils and the samples collected
can still be used for laboratory strength tests as an alternative.
( σ1 − σ3 ) (σ1 '−σ 3 ' ) has an apparent cohesion intercept (c’) if the Mohr-Coulomb
t= = (Vertical Axis) ... Eq. 2 c’-φ’ failure line is used. As the consolidation pressure in
2 2
laboratory tests prior to shearing increases beyond its yield
( σ1 + σ 3 ) ( σ '+σ ' ) stress, the bonds are destroyed and residual soil will likely
s= and s' = 1 3 (Horizontal Axis) …Eq. 3 behave like normally consolidated or slightly
2 2
overconsolidated soil. The critical state friction angle is
where σ1 = total major principal stress at failure
represented as φcv. If critical state strength is used in the
σ3 = total minor principal stress at failure
normal stress range of a slope, the streng`th value will be
σ1’ = effective major principal stress at failure
underestimated, giving an unrealistically low Factor of
σ3’ = effective minor principal stress at failure Safety (FOS). Therefore, when the in-situ stress range and
the stress path during shearing is correctly determined, the
c’-φ’ peak shear strength envelope will be representative of
Figure 9 shows the MIT stress path plot for effective stress the field conditions.
path (ESP) and total stress path (TSP), while ub is the excess
pore water pressure generated during shearing. For the
determination of shear strength (c’ & φ’), the following
equations are adopted (Figure 10):
t'
tan θ = = sin φ’ …. Eq. 4
s
κ
κ = c’ cos φ’ ; c' = …. Eq. 5
cos φ'
45
Effective Angle of Friction (φ’peak in degree)
40
35
25
20
15
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Percentage (%) of Fines
Figure 17: Grid beam system before and after fully grown vegetation (after Liew, 2005a)
discontinuities that may contribute to the following potential
failure mechanisms, namely planar sliding, anticline sliding,
active-passive wedges, toppling and also 3-D wedges.
Figure 20: Typical example of joint infill and bedding (after Liew, 2005b)
Figure 21: Exposed slope with varying degrees of weathering (after Liew et al, 2004)
Water Tank
Figure 22: Varying slope strengthening works within the same area (after Liew et al, 2004)
Figure 23: Formation of Rills and Gullies Figure 24: Localized landslips (after Gue & Tan, 2004)
(after Gue & Tan, 2004)
enforcement etc. In the aspect of development planning, the
relevant policy should cut across development in both urban
5.3 Construction and rural areas for housing, infrastructure, agricultural,
Construction quality control is particularly important for forestry, mining, etc.
hillsite development as the variation of material weathering
may be large and the change in terrain and its associated For the enhancement of technical issues related to slope
problems maybe significant. Therefore, full time site engineering, the Authors suggest the establishment of a
supervision is mandatory in all hillsite projects. In fact, in centralised agency to support the 146 local authorities
recent development approval, the government has spelled- including city councils, other federal agencies and ministries
out the requirements of experienced geotechnical engineers across the country (Gue & Chow, 2009). The objective of
or engineering geologists in site supervision during the centralised institution/agency is to ensure sustainable
earthworks and infrastructure works for all major hillsite hillsite development by breeding a group of experts through
development projects. However, there is a significant lack of structured professional training after the basic undergraduate
non-compliance in policy enforcement due to limitation of education. Such a centralised agency should aim at
resources or manpower with the appropriate knowledge. formulating simplified and practical hillsite development
guidelines/procedures and ensuring consistency in policy
5.4 Maintenance implementation and enforcement while maintaining an
Malaysian practice on slope maintenance has always expert advisory role without taking over the existing
authorisation held by individual governmental
referred to the guidelines from Hong Kong GEO, for both
agencies/ministries.
Routine Maintenance Inspections by laymen and Engineer’s
Inspections. Detailed recommendations for the necessary
Procedures and guidelines on planning and implementation
maintenance regime are stated in Geoguide 5 (2003). should incorporate an effective risk assessment and
However, such a maintenance scheme has only gained mitigation system with attention to possible environmental
popularity recently after it has been identified as one of the impact, mitigation, enhancement and sustainability. The
root causes of landslide incidents. These include Malaysian legal framework can be enhanced by emulating
damaged/cracked drains, inadequate surface erosion control certain provisions in the legal and regulatory framework for
and clogged drains. Based on lessons learned from case development planning used by Hong Kong (Chan, 2007),
history, blockage of drains will cause large volumes of water Italy (Casale and Margottini, 1999), etc (Gue et al, 2008). As
to gush down a slope causing erosion to the slope and the the Slope Engineering Branch of PWD has already started
formation of gullies. These gullies will further deteriorate with ground mapping to compute hazard maps at sensitive
into big scars on the slopes and will finally lead to landslides. areas like Ulu Klang, usage of such hazard maps should be
incorporated into the current system of development
Figure 23 shows the formation of rills and gullies and Figure approval and enforcement. From there, development of more
24 shows localized landslips caused by erosion which will hazard maps is encouraged followed by formation of risk
propagate with time into landslides if erosion control is maps to facilitate planning of land use and government
ignored. If proper maintenance is carried out, then all these control.
small defects would have been rectified and landslides
caused by erosion would have been prevented. The main stakeholders involved in the harmonization and
standardization of policies and legislation are illustrated in
6 THE WAY FORWARD Figure 26. Participation from these stakeholders is very
By understanding the current Malaysian practice on slope important for the success of developing comprehensive
engineering, the Author has recommended areas for policies and regulations for subsequent implementation.
improvement focusing on intensifying undergraduate
education, structured training for practitioners and In order to achieve profound improvements in landslide
construction control and enforcement. In addition to this, the mitigation and risk reduction, success at the implementation
Authors have also proposed strategies to streamline and stage is vital. As such, two different stages of
harmonise existing policies and legislation to provide implementation are identified before, during and after a
practical guidelines for project approval and control. Figure landslide event. The two major stages are the preparedness
25 summarises the identified key areas where improvement stage and the mitigation stage. In the preparedness stage, the
and initiatives are needed in slope management and appropriate laws and regulations, implementation and
engineering. enforcement policies and guidelines for development
planning, training schemes for stakeholders and promotion
6.1 Improvements on Policies and Legislation schemes for community awareness should be geared towards
As elaborated in section 4.0, the current implementation effective landslide mitigation and risk reduction
policy for hillsite development is in a confused state due to management.
the current ruling of no development on Class III and IV
slopes. As such, the Author urged that the current legal and
regulatory framework to be reviewed and enhanced,
including policies and legislation on landslide risk reduction
management, mechanisms and processes in ensuring legal
accountability, mechanisms for effective implementation,
Policies &
Legislation
Planning,
Analysis & Undergraduate
Design Modules
Slope
Management &
Engineering
Construction Structured
Quality Control Training for
& Site Practitioners
Supervision
Slope
Maintenance
Figure 25: Key areas for improvement in slope management and engineering
Practitioner Local
Community Authorities
Universities / Technical
Research Institutions Governmental Agencies
Insurance
Institutions The
Public
Emergency Ministry of
Rescue Units Education
Figure 26: Formation and Implementation of a National Slope Master Plan (after Gue et al., 2008)
2. Preparedness and Mitigation Stage: Training
In the mitigation stage, significant resource allocation from programmes on guidelines and technical modules
the main stakeholders is essential as this consists of planning on analysis, design, construction control, site
and enforcement of good practices in new development, supervision and maintenance of slopes
retrofitting of existing areas at risk, research and 3. Response and Recovery Stage: Training
development and exploring advancement in technology and programmes on administrative management of the
methodology. A similar approach has been very successfully guidelines for responding to landslide disasters and
used in Hong Kong where landslide mitigation and risk providing scientific and technical information
reduction have been incorporated into two components, first needed for response and recovery.
in planning control of new development, and subsequently
in retrofitting existing slopes at risk (Chan, 2007). Figure 27 Training of different stakeholders, gathering of comments
illustrates the success of Hong Kong’s Geotechnical on conflicts and weaknessness of existing guidelines or
Engineering Office (GEO) in reducing the risk of landslides procedures can facilitate standardisation or harmonisation o
(Gue, 2008). Such policies have contributed significantly to f practices/procedures and formulation of relevant guidel
landslide mitigation and risk reduction in Hong Kong with ines related to slope engineering and management. With
tremendous success. Furthermore, the entire implementation appropriate and sufficient training, the adoption of best
procedure should be entrenched with a “check and review” practices and technology (which needs to be updated fr
benchmarking system for continuous policy refinement. om time to time) can be on par with international stan
With that, the formulated template of a National Slope dards. International best practices can be adopted and/or
Master Plan may become a flagship programme, serving as a adapted to local conditions to mitigate landslides/slope f
blueprint for a structured and systematic implementation ailures and their related consequences.
plan.
6.3 Undergraduate Training in Slope Engineering
Apart from improving the policies and legislation for
6.2 Structured Professional Training implementation by the government on slope engineering and
As Engineers are the professionals involved in specifying management, emphasis should also be given to improve
undergraduates’ understanding of slope engineering
the required landslide mitigation measures, providing
structured training to practitioners would be the best way to fundamentals. This is currently lacking, and is one of the
improve slope engineering practices. Such training should most important components of improving slope engineering.
also serve as a reminder to practitioners and professionals
who are involved in slope engineering works to practice As such, the proposed strategy is to develop training
ethically and professionally, and only practice in the area of modules for the undergraduate curriculum and course notes
for engineering undergraduates. The training modules
their expertise to ensure the safety of the design. Therefore,
the continuing professional development (CPD) scheme should have adequate fundamentals on slope engineering,
which include planning of S.I. works, compiling and
implemented by the Board of Engineers, Malaysia (BEM)
should be adopted as a training programme for practising interpreting soil parameters and water profiles from the S.I.
engineers. Furthermore, collaboration and working works, followed by analysis, design, specifications, site
supervision, construction control, monitoring and
partnership should be established between professional
bodies like the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM), maintenance.
technical agencies, academia, federal, state and local
Government and private universities should review and
governments, private industry, Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) involved in slope engineering and update the undergraduate syllabus on slope engineering from
management, to recognize and accredit professionals and/or time to time with the assistance of active, experienced
practitioners to ensure graduates possess enough
semi-professionals undergoing the structured training.
Through the structured training programmes, a certification fundamentals to meet industry needs. The regular updates
and accreditation system should also be implemented to may be further improved by pooling resources from a group
of universities and passionate practitioners to ease the
update and improve the capacity, competency and
professionalism of stakeholders involved in slope workload of the lecturers so that the content and quality of
engineering and management. the lecture modules are not compromised. Knowledge
sharing between lecturers and practitioners can also be
In terms of training programmes for government agencies, achieved through workshops and forums to share
the emphasis should be in three stages: experiences on landslide mitigation and risk reduction.
1. Approval Stage: Training programmes on legal
framework to enhance the knowledge and
6.4 Planning, Analysis and Design of Slopes
capabilities of the local authorities with the process
flow of land development such as planning, 6.4.1 Desk Study
application, approval, design, construction and Desk study includes reviewing of geological maps, memoirs,
topographic maps and aerial photographs of the site and
maintenance. This is important to ensure proper
enforcement of loss reduction measures in adjacent areas so that the engineers are aware of the geology
accordance with laws and regulations. of the site, geomorphology features, previous and present
land use, current developments, construction activities,
problem areas such as previous slope failures, etc.
Overall Landslide
Risk in HK
Minimize risk
Slope Safety System
arising from new
Set up by GEO developments
• Check new slopes
• Plan land use
s
nt
pme
lo
ve • Upgrade & maintain
e de government slopes Reduce risk by
si d
l
hil • Promote private slope
improving the
th, n
maintenance
ow tio stability of existing
n gr o ra slopes
io ri
lat ete
o pu ped • Clear squatters from
P lo
ds hilly terrain
Reduce risk by
an • Educate the public
to take precaution minimizing the
possible
consequences of
landslide
| | | | | |
1950 1960 1970 1977 1980 1990 2000 Year
Existing Ground
BH
BH C’1, φ’1
Perched Water
C’2, φ’2
BH Clay
Seam
C’3, φ’3
Seepage
Water Table
Figure 30a: Extract from the Specifications for Earthworks (Clauses 12.0: Temporary Works) (after Gue &
Wong, 2008)
24.2 Fill materials for use in forming fill platforms shall be the suitable material obtained from excavation in cuttings. Where the quantity of
such materials is inadequate, the Contractor shall obtain suitable materials from the designated borrow pits or from his own borrow
pits which have been approved by the S.O.
Borrow Pit
24.3 The Contractor shall be responsible for locating borrow pits. Designated borrow pits shown on the Drawings only indicate to the Contractor
potential areas for borrow. Whether the Contractor obtains materials from the designated or his own borrow pit, it shall be his responsibility to
ascertain the suitability of the pit with respect to the quantity and quality of the materials, which shall be subject to the approval of the S.O. The
Borrow Pit
Contractor shall pay all necessary fees, taxes or royalties to the appropriate authorities and observe all relevant regulations. The Contractor shall
keep the borrow pits free from 24.3
ponding water The Contractor
and the shall
excavation neat be and
and tidy responsible for
shall carry out locating
necessary borrow
erosion pits. Designated borrow
and environmental
protection measures following the agreed method statement or as instructed by the S.O.
pits shown on the Drawings only indicate to the Contractor potential areas for
borrow. Whether the Contractor obtains materials from the designated or his own
24.4 The contractor shall submit method statement on cutting
borrow or filling
pit, and turfing
it shall be his at the borrow pit or dump
responsibility site for approval
to ascertain theofsuitability
the S.O.. of the pit with
After cutting or dumping, all the slopes shall respect
be formedtoto athe
stable gradient and
quantity andclose turfed of
quality or protected by other approved
the materials, which surface
shall be subject to the
protection method. Provision of drainage, siltation pond and
approval of the preventive
S.O. measures of pollutionshall
The Contractor shall also
paybeallincluded in the method
necessary fees, taxes or royalties
statement. to the appropriate authorities and observe all relevant regulations. The Contractor
Soft Spots shall keep the borrow pits free from ponding water and the excavation neat and
24.5 Where any undue movements due to the presence tidy andof soft unstable
shall carrysoilout
under the fill occur,erosion
necessary or unsuitable
andmaterial is encounteredprotection
environmental at measures
the bottom of the fill, it shall be excavated to such depth and over such areas as approved by the S.O.,
following the agreed method statement or as instructed by the S.O. and shall be removed to spoil.
The resulting excavation shall be backfilled
24.4 Thewithcontractor
suitable material shallassubmit
specified method
hereinbefore, and deposited
statement in loose or
on cutting lifts filling
not and turfing at
exceeding 225mm thick and compacted as described the borrowabove,pitor with compaction
or dump siteequipment suitable for
for approval ofworking
the S.O..in small excavation.
After cutting or dumping, all
24.6 The Contractor shall allow for settlement or the displacement
slopes ofshall
fill overbesoftformed
areas, andtoshall build up gradient
a stable to the required
andfinished
closelevel with or protected by
turfed
necessary compaction. other approved surface protection method. Provision of drainage, siltation pond
Filling under Floors, Aprons, beside Pilecapsand and Trenches
preventiveetc. measures of pollution shall also be included in the method
statement.
24.7 Filling shall be provided and laid under floors, aprons, etc. where required. Filling shall be of suitable material as specified
hereinbefore, deposited in loose lifts not exceeding 150mm loose thickness, and each loose lift well watered where necessary,
rammed and compacted. No Generally, clay shall be used for filling under floors and aprons unless with the approval by the S.O. At
Figure 30b: Extract from the Specifications for Earthworks (Clauses 24.0: Protection of Borrow Pit)
(after Gue & Wong, 2008)
33.5 Turfing shall be carried out within seven (7) days after
formation of the final slope profile as shown in the Drawings
and/or where directed by the Engineer. Otherwise, the
Engineer reserves the right to engage external party to carry
out the work and deduct the additional cost incurred
accordingly from the contract. The type of turf shall be as
indicated in the Drawings or other alternative type as
approved by the Engineer and shall be free of lallang and
essentially free of weeds.
Penalty
33.21 The Contractor who fails to implement the Works as per
above Sub-sections 2.2.8.1, 2.2.8.2 and 2.2.8.3 shall bear the
time and cost of turfing/hydroseeding works carried out by
others under the direction of the S.O.
Figure 30c: Extract from the Specifications for Earthworks (Clauses 33.0: Protective
Vegetation for Erosion Control and Penalty for Non-compliance) (after Gue & Wong, 2008)
Temporary Works
All temporary works particularly but not limited to temporary access
and temporary earthworks (temporary cut or temporary fill) shall not
cause failure and shall not induce instability or serviceability
problems in the long term. All temporary cut and fill by contractor
that will be left behind after completion of permanent works shall
have the same factor of safety on stability and serviceability
conditions as the permanent works.
Figure 31a: Sample Bill of Quantities for quotation of temporary works (after Gue & Wong, 2008)
Figure 31b: Sample Bill of Quantities for Borrow Pit protection (after Gue & Wong, 2008)
Figure 32a: Sample construction drawing on construction sequence for cut slopes (after Gue & Wong, 2008)
Figure 32b: Sample construction drawing on construction sequence for fill slopes (after Gue & Wong, 2008)
6.6 Research & Development terrestrial rainfall is known to be highly unpredictable. The
Apart from structured training modules, all practitioners can knowledge of groundwater fluctuation can help formulate
take another step ahead with Research and Development design procedures for subsoil drainage systems, like
(R&D) to enhance safety, environmental protection and horizontal drain spacing.
sustainability, speed of construction and economical aspects
related to slope engineering and management. In addition, we should leverage on sharing and tapping
knowledge, experience and innovation of practices of other
Among others, R&D on a simplified laboratory test to derive countries through their centres-of-excellence (COEs). The
soil properties would be beneficial. This is particularly International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) also provides
useful in establishing a framework of relationship between a useful platform through the World Landslide Forum (Sassa,
friction angle and soil descriptions. In addition, effort could 2005). Collaboration on practices and R&D with the region
also be channelled to correlate soil friction angle against is particularly value-adding and beneficial.
percentage of fines. By understanding such inversely
proportional relationships, practitioners may be able to 7 CONCLUDING REMARKS
appreciate the change in material behaviour and its Malaysia has experienced an increase in landslide incidents
sensitivity toward material particle size distribution. due to more hill site developments since the 1900s and the
However, the above proposed R&D topics would not be severity in term of casualties peaked in 1990s. Based on 49
achievable without high quality sampling and testing cases investigated by Gue & Tan (2006), 60% of failed man-
techniques. Therefore, these are the challenges in the current made slopes are due to inadequacy in design alone. These
slope engineering industry waiting to be tackled by findings revealed that the majority of these failures were
practitioners and academicians. avoidable if extra care was taken and input from engineers
with relevant experience in geotechnical engineering was
As slope stability analyses are heavily dependent on the sought in all stages of project implementation, from
accuracy of groundwater level estimation, the behaviour of planning, design, construction through to maintenance.
groundwater fluctuation during dry and wet seasons should
be evaluated through research and development. Such However, since the occurrence of a few significant landslide
understanding of ground water fluctuation for countries with disasters which resulted in major loss of lives and properties,
tropical weather like Malaysia would be highly beneficial as improvements to project approval and implementation have
been observed. The increase in media attention has hastened Seminar on "The National Conversation Has Begun"
the formation of guidelines and policies by governmental Landslide Risk Mitigation and Hillslope Re-
departments to ensure stringent approval procedures for hill engineering Planning, 19th March 2009, PWTC, Kuala
site developments. More importantly, occurrence of the rock Lumpur.
fall at Bukit Lanjan in 2003, which lead to a six-month Gue, S. S., Dwikorita, K. & Wong, S. Y. (2008). "Policy and
highway closure, triggered the establishment of the Slope Institutional Framework for Landslide Mitigation and
Engineering Branch under PWD in February 2004. Other Risk Reduction". World Landslide Forum 2008, Japan.
initiatives include the introduction of Accredited Checkers Gue, S. S. & Tan Y. C. (2006), "Landslides: Abuses of The
by Board of Engineers, Malaysia (BEM) for geotechnical Prescriptive Method", International Conference on
and structural designs of hill site developments with the aim Slope 2006, Kuala Lumpur, 7 - 8 August 2006.
of mitigating the risk of landslides and improving slope Gue, S. S. & Tan, Y. C. (2004), "Guidelines for
management and engineering. Development on Hill-Site", Tropical Residual Soils
Engineering (TRSE), 6th – 7th July 2004.
Further improvements are required in following areas: Gue, S. S. & Tan, Y. C. (2000), “Hill-Site Development –
• Improvements and harmonisations on policies and Planning, Design, Construction & Maintenance
legislation Considerations”, Seminar on Geotechnical Engineering
• Setting-up of structured professional training for 2000, IEM, Northern Branch, Penang.
practitioners in the private sector and government Foo, K.Y. (1983). “The Palaeozoic Sedimentary Rocks of
agencies Peninsular Malaysia – Stratigraphy and Correlation”.
• Strengthening of undergraduate education on slope Proceedings of the Workshop on Stratigraphic
engineering Correlation of Thailand and Malaysia, 1, pp.1-19.
• Sharing and knowledge management of good Institution of Engineers, Malaysia. (2000). "Policies and
practices on planning, analysis and design of slopes procedures for mitigating the risk of landslide on hill-
• Strengthening of construction control and site development", The Institution of Engineers,
enforcement Malaysia.
• Investment in research and development Khoo, T.T. & Tan, B.K. (1983). ”Geological Evolution of
Peninsular Malaysia”. Proceedings of the Workshop on
Leverage and collaboration with other countries through Stratigraphic Correlation of Thailand and Malaysia, pp.
their COEs is vital for sharing and tapping of knowledge, 253-290.
experience and innovation of practices. For that, ICL Liew, S.S. (2005a), "Soil Nailing for Slope Strengthening",
provides an excellent platform for collaboration on practices 2-day course on Geotechnical Engineering 2005, The
and R&D within the region. Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, 30 - 31 May 2005.
Liew, S. S., (2005b),"Common Problems of Site
Investigation Works in a Linear Infrastructure Project",
Seminar on "IEM/MSIA Site Investigation Practice",
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